Guilderland town board gets back to business

The public weighed in on recent bickering by the Guilderland Town Board. During the public comment portion at the start of the Tuesday, March 18, meeting, Harry Mesick of Guilderland made known his feelings about the contentious nature of recent meetings.

I've heard nothing but disdain for one another and a lack of cooperation. Before the gentlemen, Redlich and Grimm, were elected into office, we never had this problem, said Mesick, referring to Republican councilmen Warren Redlich and Mark Grimm, who were elected to the Democrat-dominated board in November.

Mesick praised Supervisor Ken Runion's work and pleaded with board members to "get to the business at hand and get the job done."

Runion adjourned the Tuesday, March 4, Town Board meeting when it appeared infighting among board members and the supervisor would keep them from accomplishing anything.

Republican Party Chairman Ted Danz was quick to speak on behalf of the GOP councilmen, pointing out both were elected by an overwhelming majority in November.

"I think we finally have some diversity on the board as far as opinions go. There's supposed to be dialogue; there's supposed to be talk, and we encourage change," said Danz, adding both parties need to work together to accomplish the people's business.

With that, the board embarked on a polite and productive meeting. The board approved the minutes of the previous meeting, with Redlich abstaining from the vote.

A proposal by Amedore Homes Inc., to rezone land on West Old State Road for a townhouse project was approved for a public hearing in a unanimous vote. The 22-acre plot of land is zoned for residential use and currently contains a house and farm buildings. Amedore Homes hopes to have the property re-zoned for 42 townhomes and local business use. Runion suggested business non-retail professional use zoning might be more appropriate for the project.